I Won a Major Award....I Won a Major Award!!!

Kim, at We Speak of Him, has awarded me THE SMILE AWARD!

I'm feeling really special now. THANKS KIM!!! Make sure you pop on over and check out how she is totally in love with God. She is also a cancer survivor! Also, you can see who the original creator of the award....just click the smile award link.

THE SMILE AWARD's rules are:

1. The recipient must link back to the awards creator (http://thebabblingsofmere.blogspot.com/2008/07/smile-award_11.html)
2. You must post these rules if you receive the award.
3. You must choose 5 people to receive the award after receiving it yourself.
4. You must fit the characteristics of the recipient of the award (see below.)
5. You must post the characteristics of a recipient.
6. You must create a post sharing your win with others.
7. You must thank your giver. (s)
Characteristics for the Smile Award:
1. Must display a cheerful attitude. (not necessarily at all times--we are all human).
2. Must love one another.
3. Must make mistakes.
4. Must learn from other.
5. Must be a positive contributor to blog world.
6. Must love life.
7. Must love kids.

Here are FIVE people ( IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER) I am passing on the award to.......

1. Liisa, at All of My Days, this is a woman whom I met through blogland and yet already feel like we should have known each other before now. We have amazing things in common...even meeting our husbands at the young age of 15! Lisa is a Canadian....so, I'm sure it will be a long time before we could ever meet face to face.

2. Mom, aka, Nanny at My Bucket List. I hesitated to put her on here only because I KNOW...don't ask me how I know....but, I'll be the one that has to do the posting of her award...ba haaaaaa. Seriously, she is an amazing woman who is seeking God's heart and enjoying life. Pop on over to see how she is fulfilling her bucket list.

3. Rechelle at Walnuthaven Cottage. I don't even remember how I found this wonderful lady's blog. I just know that I have so much fun reading it. She participates in PINK SATURDAY and wowee, does she ever have some pink stuff. She is one who makes sure she leaves a comment anytime she pops in.

4. Margo at Margo's Junkin' Journal. This lady makes me smile every time I see her WONDERFUL junk creations. I swear SOME DAY I will make it to Texas to find her and roll around in her creative shop. Yeah, just pop on over there and see if you don't fall in love with her stuff......go ahead, I dare YOU.

5. Last but certainly not least is Chas at My Neurotic Spot. Chas is on of my earliest friends from blogland. This woman has such a knack for writing. I also think she gets the best pictures of her two boys....one was of "Critter" asleep in his walker w/ his binky....HOW CUTE IS THAT?

Ok, now I'm going to post my FIRST AWARD in my sidebar.....woooohooooooo.

Saturday Garage Sale Find.....

Isn't this beautiful? It matches my wall color in my bedroom perfectly. I got this today at one of the last garage sales.....the one I almost passed up because it didn't look like it had anything for me.

This is What I Saw Outside this Morning.....

Sunrise in Oklahoma.....ahhhhh, God is good!

Favorite Kitchen Gadgets 101

IF you don't have one of these babies....stop reading this right now and google Cook's Essentials. It is a 10 qt. roaster...that in a pinch at a stockshow, camping, picnic, snowboarding, driving....ok, I'm getting carried away now...it can be used as a SINK for dirty dishes. Just pour you some water, add some dishsoap, crank that baby to 400 degrees....and VOILA...you've got a KITCHEN SINK!!!

I love this thing....if I weren't already married, I might consider being the first woman to MARRY A CROCKPOT....lol.

I use it weekly, if not DAILY. Most people have the 18 qt or bigger....the smaller ones are hard to find for some reason. I think there might even be an 8 qt. out there in internet land.

If you find a place that sells them, please come back here and post the link in the comments. It must be 10 qt. or 8 qt., the smaller ones are easier to find...it is these two that seem to be extinct.

Science Experiment 1.3 Apologia General Science

School is back in session and I decided to share a fun experiment on chemical reaction. I hate that I had to buy a WHOLE head of red cabbage for this experiment....I have NO IDEA what to do with the rest of it. Thank goodness, I found a really small head.

Regan is doing a more intense science this year...which means it takes longer than past years. She is really enjoying this book, it makes her feel like she is in HIGH SCHOOL because it is so thick. She makes sure to show it to anyone willing to look at it....lol.

Notice that the balloon inflated...but also, the color of the liquid changed....there you have it, CHEMICAL REACTIONS.

NOTE: The glasses are safety glasses....as called for in the supply list....I'm thinking she would look really cute in the CAT GLASSES that I DIDN'T get....what do you think?

Are YOU Sticking YOUR Tongue Out at ME?

These are some of our cows swimming across the pond.

Apparently she doesn't like having her picture taken....

MENU MONDAY

(Don't forget to check out www.orgjunkie.com for more menu plans and recipes)

This week, I'm using ideas from a new book, Supper's on the Table, Come Home. Rachel Masters includes 13 weeks of meal plans, recipes and grocery lists. I looked through it and didn't really want any ONE week of recipes, but am using several of her recipes.

MONDAY - Shepherd's Pie, salad, lemon squares

TUESDAY - Chicken Fajitas, spanish rice

WEDNESDAY - Dinner at church (Hamburgers, Hot Dogs)

THURSDAY - Oven Fried Chicken, roasted potato salad, corn

FRIDAY - Sloppy Joes, tater tots, peaches

SATURDAY - Creamed Chicken & biscuts, green beans, pineapple

SUNDAY - Church Supper ( I'm not sure what I am making yet)

Passive Aggressive.....

Passive-aggressive: Pertaining to behavior in which feelings of aggression are expressed in passive ways as, for example, by stubbornness, sullenness, procrastination, or intentional inefficiency.

Yep, I've found the culprit....the pillow stealing THIEF!

It isn't the neighbor's dog as I was told by my Father-In-Law and my dear hubby.....NOOoooOooo.

I woke up early this a.m. to get ready for church and BEFORE the girls went outside to feed....therein lies how I caught the little booger.

When the girls go out to feed, the thief goes greet them......and looks all innocent.

Here is where the rocking chair pillow was found this morning.....mind you, it gets farther and farther away each morning. This is actually around the SIDE of the house this time. Yesterday, it was at the corner of the house. The day before that, it was not quite to the corner. The day before that, it was at the end of the porch.....you get my drift.

I'd swear the thing HAD LEGS and was trying to find the couch it came from!

It was BUBBA!

Now, let me tell you about BUBBA! This is a STRAY dog that showed up when our goat dog was in heat and he has NEVER LEFT. We liked BUBBA because he was TRAINED to sit, load into a pick-up, lie down. He had an aggressive personality when it came to other male dogs and eventually was so THUMPED by our BIG DOG, RASCAL. Now, he just pretends to be TOUGH.

We also think BUBBA was an inside dog....why do we think this? Because he will just walk right in the house if given the opportunity. So, we would let him sleep in the garage every now and then. Well, it got so hot in the garage, we wouldn't let him in. This is where the PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE comes into play....

He is mad he doesn't have an INDOOR place to sleep, so he chooses my chair.....MINUS the pillow. You'd think he would ENJOY a soft cushy PILLOW....nope, he takes it out and sleeps in the HARD CHAIR.

So, just what is BUBBA....what does the terrible pillow thieving dog look like?

HERE IS BUBBA!!!

Betty Crocker FLUFFY Pancakes 1950 Recipe

I was in the mood to make pancakes today. I'm not the best pancake maker. Since I'm not the best pancake maker, I don't have a perfect recipe yet. I decided to get out my 1950 Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook and try one of her recipes.

NOTE TO SELF: There is NO picture of THESE pancakes!

NOTE TO SELF AGAIN: After this post, there WILL be pictures of the pancakes!

Here are the ingredients:

Make sure you separate the eggs....they tend to get into trouble when you keep them in the same bowl.

No, these are not shot glasses for some sports nut!



Mix the egg yolks, soda and buttermilk
woooo....isn't that a work of art?

Sift the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt...

do people even sift anymore? It just seems like you are more or less pouring the stuff through the sifter before you can even turn the cute little crank...

Add flour mixture to buttermilk mixture and stir.

Add butter.

Whip egg whites to stiffen and gently fold into pancake mixture.

The egg whites only cried a tiny bit while being whipped....I don't think any of the family heard it.

Griddle you some pancakes......

WARNING: Pancakes must resemble THE MOON before attempting to FLIP....don't ask me how I know this.

TA DAAAAA.....not so fluffy pancakes!

But hey, I got a picture now....and, they were still DELICIOUS!!!

I wonder if this post will bring people from all over the world to view my pancakes. 4% of the people who have visited my blog have come just to see the post I did on my daughter's pancakes. CLICK HERE. Go figure...I never realized pancakes were that popular around the world.

ABOUT ME.....

1. What is your first name? Traci
2. What is your favorite food? Mexican
3. What school did you go to? OSU
4. What is your favorite color? Yellow
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Tom Hanks
6. Favorite drink? Strawberry Lemonade
7. Dream vacation? Bike riding in Europe
8. Favorite dessert? Cheesecake
9. What you want to be when you grow up? Reflection of Christ
10. What do you love most in life? Time w/ God and family
11. One Word to describe you. Eccentric
12. Where do you live? OooOOooklahoma

These are all pictures from Flickr...you search your answer and choose a picture. You can go to HERE to make a mosaic or some other fun thing.

The Scarlett Rose Garden: Time Warp Wives on Youtube!#links#links#links#links

Ok, you've got to check out this new reality show in the UK....think Frontier House with REAL people who try to live their life in the era. I hope they keep posting it on youtube....I'm addicted....I love the stuff in the background.
I would post it on my blog......just being lazy....plus you need to check out Nikki's blog and house.....WONDERFUL!



The Scarlett Rose Garden: Time Warp Wives on Youtube!#links#links#links#links

New Blog Layout....What 'Cha Think?

I FINALLY figured out how to change the template to my blog...thanks to my friend, KIM. (waving at Kim) You can go to ShelsScraps and get yourself a new template. She has the directions for doing it posted on her side bar. If I can do it, ANYONE can do it. I am sooooo excited.....so, excited about this that I might have a different template each time you come back to my blog.....lol.

Menu Plan Monday ~ August 18th

Menu Plan Monday ~ August 18th

Posted using ShareThis

MENU MONDAY

Some of my menu is going to look familiar since I had it on my menu last week. We ended up not needing as many meals last week due to various schedules, so I am going to make them this week. I am going to add the recipes for this week's menu.

MONDAY - LEFTOVERS

TUESDAY - Sandwiches because we have a meeting.

WEDNESDAY - Baked Potato Soup (click for recipe) Hint, I don't fry the bacon, I just buy the real bacon bits that you put on a salad.....I use a whole BAG of it.

THURSDAY - Mexican Meatloaf, refried beans, salad, chips

I make a regular meatloaf (you can also use taco seasoning in the beef) but add salsa and jalapenos to the mix. Instead of the ketchup/bbq sauce topping, I make spicy queso w/ velveeta and ro-tel....you can also make extra queso for chips or to make the "gravy" for the meatloaf.

FRIDAY - Grilled Hamburgers w/ Pepper Jack cheese melted in the middle, corn on cob, baked beans, deviled eggs

SATURDAY - Lasagna, garlic bread, salad

SUNDAY - Open faced Beef Stroganoff, carrots, crash potatoes (I tried to post the link to pioneer woman's recipe, but the site was down...so, here another post about them)

Beef Stroganoff Recipe:

1 lb. ground beef browned and drained

1 can. cream of mushroom

1 package Lipton onion soup mix

1/2 cup sour cream....or more to taste

Mix cream of mushroom and Lipton onion soup mix w/ ground beef, add 1 to 1 1/2 cans of water.

Let come to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 min.

Add sour cream and mix well.

Serve on toasted buns or bread. 4-5 servings

The Hand of a Cowboy....

This is my hubby's hand. This is the hand that holds my hand. This is the hand that wears the ring I gave him...although it isn't the orginal ring. I love this hand. I love the man who belongs to this hand. I love the way he uses scissors to cut his nails instead of the wonderful little invention of nail clippers. I don't love finding fingernails all over the room after he clips his nails with scissors. One time, he even flipped one into my morning coffee.....SICKO!! I still love my man though....sigh.....

Our Trip Thru the Lock and Dam #17

LOOK! There it is!

A closer view of the lock and dam that we will be entering on our boat.





Pulling the chain to alert them of our arrival to the lock.






Notice the watermark on the wall...that is where the water will be when we LEAVE the lock.

We are greeted by the engineer, Mr. Owens. He gives us pamphlets to make sure we know the rules of the lock next time we come. Notice he has a pole w/ a clamp on it. This is so he can lower the stuff to us.

This is the control tower and where they can blow a very loud siren to let us know when they will be releasing the water. It also alerts us to when we will be releasing our water aka PEE...sheesh, scared it right out of us!

Look carefully! There is a bird that waits there as the water goes down inside the lock....fish get caught on the ledges of the gate. EASY FISHING!

The water is up to the fill line and the gates open to let us out. Notice the watermark line on the wall.

A little visitor that wanted to travel through the lock also.....ICK!! I was ok w/ him as long as he didn't decide to take a boat ride.

Another Teenager in the House....

All of our children are officially teenagers!

Our youngest, Regan, turned 13 on August 16, 2008 at 10:31p.m.

Of all the things she could do for her birthday, she chose to take a pontoon boat down the Verdigris River and go thru the lock and dam. We planned to leave about 10:00 a.m. when we discovered we had a dead battery on the boat. After two hours, we were tooling UP the river on our birthday adventure.

It was quite exciting! There was a lot of erosion from the recent flooding in our state. We had a beautiful day, cloudy, chilly and no rain. I think the temperature only reached 82 that day. It felt in the 70's for most of the trip.

We traveled almost to our house actually....it took about 2 hours. We found a nice campground and docked the boat, ate lunch and sat around for a bit.

We loaded the boat and headed back down river and the total trip was about 5 hours long.

I want to thank Mom and Paul for making Regan's birthday so memorable for all of us. I'm sure it was harder than they made it look to make it work.

I also want to thank Bonnie and Charles aka Grandma and Grandpa for spending the day with us.

My next few posts will be pics of the trip.

Happy Birthday Regan....welcome to the teens. I love you for your quirkiness, your passions, your love for others and for just being YOU.

1950's Look....What Do You Think?

Ok, I know some of you wanted to see the new glasses. Well, I couldn't get the ones I posted about due to insurance reasons. These are the next best thing. I am really enjoying looking into the mirror....tee heee.

Photo credit: Regan age: 12...will be 13 tomorrow

Cute Hairstyle....

Isn't this the cutest hairstyle? I'm putting it here so I can refer back to it as needed. She said she does it with wave clamps...and where would I find those?

I also want to try this pin curl set....it comes out looking sorta Marilyn Monroeish....this would look so cute with my new glasses.

Putting on the Dark Clothes of a Dark Warrior......

Laser Quest combines the classic games of tag and hide & seek with a high-tech twist. Donning the most sophisticated laser tag equipment available, the game is played in a large, multi-level arena featuring specialty lighting, swirling fog and heart-pounding music. Questors, whether individually or on teams, use their lasers to score as many points as possible by tagging the sensors on their opponents’ equipment. Scorecards and code names add to the fun.

Notice I'm using camouflaged coloring....I'm HIDING! Tonight we will be taking the church youth to Laser Quest. My husband and I have a HISTORY with Laser Quest....yes, yes, we have quite a tale to tell....

Let's go back in time.....several years ago when the local Laser Quest opened....it sounded so fun. We, young married couples, decided that we would celebrate the December birthdays running around shooting the snockers out of each other...which by the way doesn't HURT...it isn't paintball...just CANCER CAUSING lasers...but, that's another story.

So, back to the story.....as soon as I get into the arena I take off like the boogie man is after me (because HE was)....because I have this annoying habit of SCREAMING (I don't mean, ahhhh scream, I mean pierce your ears and fall on the ground scream) when I get scared. All I wanted to do was find a HIDING spot and shoot people....was that too much to ask?

Mission was a success!

I was so proud of myself for managing to conceal myself from anyone finding me.....even my husband.

When we finished, one of the biggest fights ensued....he thought I was hiding in a dark corner with another man....HELLLLLLOOOOO....if any man came to my hidey hole, I would have thought he was the boogie man and then I would have screamed and then I would have piddled my pants and then I would die of embarrassment....sheeeesh...AS IF.

So, we had already paid to play another game.....the GAME must go on.....so, I spent the entire game walking behind my DEAR hubby........SHOOTING him in the back.....I racked up quite a lot of points.....That way, every time his chest vibrated after being shot.....I kept reminding him that I was RIGHT BEHIND HIM!!! We fought about that day for weeks....it almost reminds me of Moofasa in Lion King where when even his name is spoken...they shudder. Laser Quest?.....ohhhhhh Mooofasa....

FAST FORWARD SEVERAL YEARS.......

The church youth are now going.....and as a JOKE, I asked if dear hubby wanted to go with them.

Guess what!!! He said, "YES"!.....I asked if he had GROWN UP since the last trip......he said, "yah, I guess".

Hmmmm, what should I put for my CODE NAME that will be BROADCAST on THE BIG SCREEN.......????

Stay tuned for an update......

Weight Loss Wednesday

Well, I almost forgot to post this....I've slacked off the past few weeks or so. I'm back to posting it. I guess camp threw me off track.

-1 lb. = -4 lbs. total loss in 8 weeks?

I've lost track.

Why I Can't Have a Magazine Perfect Porch.....

I need ideas to keep the DUMB dogs from stealing my pillows off my porch! I've now resorted to bringing them in at night.....which really hampers the "I want a pretty porch" attempt. They even got the HUGE COUCH CUSHION out of my rocking chair this morning...arrggghhhhh. They do it OVERNIGHT...when I'm sleeping! Is there a spray or something that I can spray them with to keep them from taking my pillows. Sheesh, I wonder how people keep their porches pretty and neat.....AND keep the animals from making their own beds with them.

Psalm 141:3

Take control of what I say, O Lord

and keep my lips sealed.

I've been on a tangent lately....this is my reminder to get back into focus. Negativity has crept back into my thoughts and speech.....WALK IN LOVE!

MENU MONDAY

We are having cooler weather here and it is really putting me in the mood for soups and fall weather. I'm sure that by the time I cook this stuff, it will be back 105 degrees outside. Our public schools are starting back this week which means that dear hubby started today....sigh...well, he works during the summer, it is just a little more relaxed. Head over to ORGJUNKIE to find more great menus or add your own.

Menu:

MONDAY - Chickaritos thanks to my new friend at Fresh on the Farm (Head on over there and take a look at that sure to be a hit recipe.)

TUESDAY - (I have a meeting early in the evening) Cheeseburger Macaroni stuff...NOT HAMBURGER HELPER.

WEDNESDAY - Baked Potato Soup

THURSDAY - Roast, potatoes, carrots, rolls, gravy....yummmmmmy!!!

FRIDAY - Red Beans and Rice w/ sausage

SATURDAY - Daughter's 13th birthday...probably eating out.

SUNDAY - Mexican meatloaf, corn, mashed potatoes, gravy, salad